Abstract Expressionist Painting Workshop

I'll be teaching a class on Abstract Expressionist Painting tonight for the Lititz Village Art Association. If you're interested in learning more about this movement and how to literally "paint your heart out" then check it out tonight at 7pm at the Lititz Library. For more information, visit this link.

Appalachian Trail in PA

Started hiking a section of the PA Appalachian trail last weekend. What a beautiful experience!

What I Learned While in New Orleans

Bridge underpasses are still home to displaced Katrina homeowners.

I guess I didn't really expect to see much change from the last time we went down to New Orleans since the last time we went it looked like Katrina had just hit a month prior, but there was an inch of hope inside of me expecting to see at least schools and businesses reopening. No such luck. Where are these kids going to school if the ones we saw are still condemned and boarded up? Maybe that's why we saw kids on their bikes and having fun in the streets while we were working in the neighborhoods during school hours. It's just not right. And to see that President Bush and the President of Mexico and Canada were all in the city the same week we were was just a little humorous to me. Did you know that Canada was there helping the city of New Orleans immediately after Katrina hit before our own government was?

Because pictures of the neighborhood homes would have looked exactly the same as the pictures I took on my last trip, I didn't take any new ones. (It still looks like Katrina hit a month ago.) So, here a couple of me and my husband working on the floor systems to 5 houses that will be built in a couple weeks for the Jimmy Carter Work Project.

My husband, Andy

Working with my own tools and tool belt this year.

Some of us from the team also had the unique opportunity to meet the new homeowner of a house that we built 7 months ago and gave him a gift basket from members of Lancaster Indie Arts. I brought with me some awesome handmade items that LIA members Rachel-Marie, Maggie Mowery, Cinda Collins, Vicki Gertenbach and I created to help add a little love to the new home of a Habitat owner. I had no idea who it would be given to or how I would get it into someone's hands at the beginning of the week, but by the last day my husband had the awesome idea of tracking down the family of the last house we did. So we asked around and found out that the new owners were staying right across the street from their future place. So, we not only got to see the progress of the last project we worked on, but got to meet the future owner of it as well.

Gift Basket with goodies from Lancaster Indie Artists

The highlight of the trip for me was seeing the hearts of the locals who didn't let this tragedy affect their outlook on life. Everywhere we went, we were thanked with the deepest appreciation. And it wasn't always on the job sight that we saw this. I ran into Walgreens one day after working and got to the register to purchase my item and didn't even say a word, but as the cashier handed me my change, she thanked me for the work that I was doing there and may God bless me. (It wasn't until I got into the car and told Andy what happened that he pointed out it was pretty obvious with my dirty work clothes and my not-so-pleasant "glistening" odor that she knew what I was doing in New Orleans. Ha ha!)

And then on our last day our whole team was invited to a woman's home for some home cooked crawfish.

"You just bite down and suck it out!" she said.

And she not only wanted to feed us, but offered her FEMA trailer to us to use as a place to just sit and relax, use her bathroom, watch tv or even check email. Her generosity was overwhelming that day, and what a blessing it was to watch her attitude and see her heart as one who can still give love and offer what she has left as a lesson in making this world a better place by "being the change we want to see in the world."

Musician's Village Work Week

My husband and I will be going down to New Orleans next week with Habitat for Humanity. This will be our 3rd time down and we're very excited to finally get to work at the Musician's Village site. It's an amazing community of colorful homes built for the talented mix of musicians in New Orleans who lost their homes during Katrina. Check back next week for pictures of what we did and saw.

Joy

This is a painting I did while waiting to hear from God about where I need to go with my art career-wise. The result was "Joy" and the reminder that I need to find joy in what is happening right now in my career.

Out of My Element

I'm not one to just paint for painting's sake. But after visiting a show at the Quarryville library with very talented artists John Weaver and Mike Witmer, they inspired me to paint anything, even a still life I set up in my house. Now, if you've seen my house, you know how VERY uninspirational it is with saw dust and plaster dust all over the furniture, combined with my art studio being in the same living space as my office, living room and Lucy, our dog's room. It doesn't get much more uninspiring than that! But in order to do what I love to do, I've learned to live with it. And so last week, I took a shell that I found at the New Jersey shore and placed it in front of a canvas and painted it. Now here's why the show in Quarryville inspired me to paint the shell in the first place. The two guys stated that they had gotten together frequently over a period of time to paint the same thing, but from two different perspectives. It was so great to see the differences and unique styles between the two artists. A lot of the pieces were just still life's that they set up and made a lot more interesting as a painting than the real thing I can imagine. But because of their commitment to paint daily, or weekly, whichever they did, in order to develop their painting skills, and do it in a fun way by having someone do it with you, was really encouraging to me. I realized I need to paint more just to continue developing my style and abilities, and that it's okay if the painting doesn't "mean" anything. I've never liked painting something that didn't have a meaning behind it, but I guess I can get over that if I can get over living in a dull and prosaic house.

Baby Shower Invitations

Two of my best friends from back home are having babies this year and it's killing me that I'm not there to be with them through all their baby shower parties, weird food cravings, and being there at the hospital. But, I did get the chance to help design their baby shower invitations and be involved in that process. I guess I'll take what I can get!

Good Friday Event a HUGE Success!

More than 500 people came out to the Good Friday, Scarlet Steps event last Friday night. What an amazing response! We originally had planned for only 150 people, so you can imagine how shocked and pleased we were. People keep asking if we'll do this again . . . can't wait!

To see more pictures of the rooms, go here.

photos by Joshua Schnapf

WJTL Radio Interview

I meant to have an announcement about this up before I actually went on the air, but time got away from me. So here's a link to the interview for the Scarlet Steps event we were promoting on the radio last week. Look for "Sacred Spaces Good Friday Art Walk March 19 Part 1 & 2" close to the top of the page and then click on the "stream" link to listen to it from the web.

A Visual Good Friday Experience

This year, NewSong Fellowship Church has decided to step out of the norm of holding a Good Friday Service where you hear about the somber and compelling story of Jesus' death on the cross. They're still telling this story, but it's going to be delivered in a fresh and unforgettable visual way. I have been helping to gather the artists and artwork for this event and have to say that I've been amazed and blow away by what the artists in that church have come up with. I hope this is only the beginning of what God chooses to do with the artists at this church and look forward to working with them again on another project that will reveal how much God can speak through artwork, and does, in a very powerful way.

To read more about it from our local paper's article, click here.

New Art Website Up & Running

It's finally done! Go to www.annkimmich.com from now on for my latest news and paintings.

Picture Frame for New Baby

My best friend in San Diego just had a baby so I made this frame for her. I'm loving the new swirly flowers I made and can't wait to use them again on another piece. I never would have thought yellow and pink would work together, but I think it turned out alright.

War Painting Inspirations

In the midst of continuing my series of paintings about "love" (no, not because valentines day is coming . . .), I'm conflicted with a need to now paint about the Iraq War. I just finished watching "Why We Fight" by Eugene Jarecki and have so much emotion inside of me that I feel like I'm going to burst if I don't express it somehow. I know a lot of the information isn't new (since the film was made in 2005) but if you don't know anything about the Military-Industrial Complex and how it all began, this movie will give you some good insight.

Am I the Only One that Feels This Way?

. . . or am I the only one that will say it?

This is a new piece from my "Love" series that was hung at Square One Coffee last month. It's titled "Trying to Love What I Blame." To see the other ones in the series, go to my website at http://www.akimmich.com/art.cfm?cat=1

Which Office Character Are You?

I totally thought I'd be Pam!

Go here to take the Quiz. Yes, I'm an Office geek!